Decorated fabric.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDRICK RINK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE KURSI-IEEDT MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

DECORATED FABRIC.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 3, 1911.

Patented May 14, 1912. Serial No. 642,091.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Fnnnnrok RINK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Decorated Fabric, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in decorated fabric and more particularly to the decoration of a fabric by what is generally called a conching stitch. This decoration is formed on various materials as a foundation, and is generally used in dresses and Wherever a decorative fabric is desirable; and usually the same has consisted, when made on a sewing machine, not only of the foundation fabric, but of a cord of longitudinal loose threads forming a kind of.

rope and of sufficient diameter to lie in relief on the fabric; of a stitching, usually formed by the ordinary chain stitch or by the lock stitch of the sewing machine, and a binding or holding thread which was passed under the stitching and then over the decorating cord and stitching and thence under the stitching again and so on. In progressing along the fabric, the binding or holding thread passing around the decorative cord, would assume a spiral position and there was a tendency to draw the cord out of the straight and to make it lie curved. When the couching stitch was formed by hand work the decorative cord was placed straight and was held on the fabric by the holding thread which latter was formed of loops passing transversely around the cord, thus securing the cord to the fabric in straight formation, rather than with short zig-zags. In the hand Work the decorative cord can be slightly drawn in by the holding thread, giving a pleasing and artistic appearance to the ornamentation Which could not be obtained under the prior machine Work, and the machine and the hand work have thus become distinguishable and the latter is muchpreferred. Furthermore, in prior machine work the cord was not held upon the fabric as substantially as in hand work and therefore the fabric was not adapted for all uses; and in fact such ma chine work is not altogether recognized as the couching stitch.

The object of my present invention is to so construct the ornamentation that the work can be done on a sewing machine, but n such a way that the finished product will have the same artistic appearance as the hand work. The stitching which holds the decorative cord forms transverse loops around the cord, thereby giving the appearance of hand work. Under my present invention I do not require a second or additional thread for holding the cord on'the fabric, but instead I form the stitching in such a manner that it serves to hold the cord itself, avoiding the second or holding thread which has always been necessary when the work has been done by machine.

In the drawing forming a part of this application, Figure 1, is a'plan view of the under side or back of a fabric embodying my invention in the preferred form. Fig. 2, is a similar view of the top or right side thereof, showing a part of the decoration broken away, for the purpose of illustrating the construction. Fig. 3, is an enlarged plan of a port-ion of the under side of the fabric showing the formation of certain of the stitches. Fig. 41-, is an elevation showing the decorative cord applied to the folded edge of the fabric, to which use my invention is also adapted. Fig. 5, is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 6, is a similar view of the opposite side of the same and Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion of the stitching employed in Fig. 4:, with the decorative cord omitted to show the disposition of the stitches.

The fabric of my invention may be made with various kinds of stitches, but I prefer to employ lock or shuttle stitches as they are more perfect in their holding of the decorative cord and I will therefore de scribe my invent-ion wherein lock stitches are used, but I do not intend thereby to limit the scope of my invention, as it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that other kinds of stitches may be used.

My invention may be carried out on various kinds of stitching machines, but as I find the zigzag stitching machine, which is well known in the art, to be the best adapted for the work, I have shown the cord applied on such a machine though I am not limited to the use of such a machine.

The decoration may be applied either to the surface of a flat piece of fabric, or for certain uses the decorative cord may be attached along the folded edge of the fabric, but in each case the construction will be substantially the same.

Under my invention only the sewing thread is required to secure the decorative cord to the fabric thereby eliminating the second thread which was heretofore used to secure the cord to the fabric in all machine work. Such second thread was wound around the decorative cord and under the sewing thread, to hold the cord on the fabric, but it not only provided an unsatisfactory holding means for the cord but'it was not possible to form a decoration resembling hand work. In my present invention, the sewing thread serves to directly secure the cord upon the fabric and at the same time preserve the same appearance as hand work.

The primary object of my invention is to secure a decorative cord on the fabric which will lie in relief and in using the word cord I do not wish to be understood as limiting my invention to a cord composed of a number of strands of cot-ton, silk, or the like, but an elongated strip of material regardless of its particular construction. Braids, pipings, strings of beads, and various other materials may be used in the construction.

I employ a foundation fabric 1, which may be of any suitable material, depending upon the use to which the finished product is to be put and the particular appearance desired. Upon this fabric is attached the cord 2, which forms the raised decoration for the fabric, and the manner in which this cord is secured to the fabric has much to do with the appearance of the product and the stability of the decoration, as well as the simplicity and cheapness of its construction. The cord may be secured in straight formation. upon the fabric or it may be curved in various curves to form various designs; and the present construction of the fabric permits this curving to be controlled by manipulating the feed on the sewing machine. In the application. of the cord upon the fabric I use stitching which progresses in the same general direction as the cord and which also is passed around opposite sides of the cord, to form a series of loops around the cord which can be drawn to pull in the latter slightly to give it the same artistic appearance as hand produced product.

In constructing the product with a lock stitch machine I form a number of stitches 3, by passing the needle thread 4, through the fabric from the top or rightside and theyare engaged below the fabric by the shuttle thread 5, which is shown in the drawings by a heavy solid line to distinguish it from the needle thread; though the needle and shuttle threads are not necessarily different in character. These stitches 3, may be disposed at any suitable distance apart and they progress in the same general direction as the cord and preferably they lie under the cord, so as to be hidden by the latter, leaving only the loops of the sewing thread showing from the right side of the fabric. At various places preferably at regular intervals and intermediate the several stitches 3, I form stitches which produce loops about the cord and hold the same upon the fabric and produce the desired effect. lVhen the needle thread leaves one of the plain stitches 3, on the top or right side of the fabric, it progresses along the fabric and is passed again through the fabric at the point 6, which is on the same general line as the stitches 3, when the needle thread forms a loop around the shuttle thread at 7, and is returned to the top of the fabric. The needle thread is now passed over the top of the cord 2, which is laid loosely upon the fabric, and a stitch is made on the opposite side of the cord. In Figs. 1 to 3, this last stitch is made through the base fabric again, while in the form shown in Figs. 4 to 7, where the cord is attached to the edge of the fabric, this stitch is formed free, or in the air.

In Figs. 1 to 3, the loop 8, is formed around the cord by the needle thread, so that the loop lies generally transverse of the cord; and the stitch referred to is formed by the needle thread passing again through the fabric at the point 9, and it is looped about the shuttle thread 5, at the point 10, forming a stitch. If the machine on which the work is done is what is generally called a zig-zag machine this last mentioned stitch will be formed slightly to one side of the other stitches 3, and 6, but this is not necessarily so where the work is performed 011 an ordinary straight sewing machine as in the latter case the stitch 9, may come in the same general line as the previous stitches, so long as the thread has formed a loop around the cord. After the stitch 9, is formed the needle thread is passed over the cord forming a second loop 11, parallel with the first loop 8, or substantially at right angles with the cord; and the thread is passed again through the fabric to form a stitch 12, the needle thread forming a. loop 13, around the shuttle thread 5, when it returns to the top side of the fabric again. This latter stitch was formed in the same general line as the stitches 3. From this last stitch, the thread progresses in the direction of application of the decoration, when the plain stitch 3, simply passing through the fabric, is formed. This arrangement is repeated as many times as may be necessary to provide the proper decoration to the fabric.

There may be one or any number of the intermediate stitches intervening between the stitches which form the loops. The above loops cause the cord to lie upon the fabric in regular formation and if the loops are drawn in slightly by the action of the tension on the threads, the cord is slightly decreased in its dimension at the loops, thus preserving the same appearance as when the decoration is attached by hand work, and the stitches herein described cause the loops which engage around the cord to lie substantially transverse of the direction of the cord; and the cord is laid upon one side of the fabric.

For some purposes it is desirable to attach the cord to the fabric so that the cord will come along the edge of the fabric and lie like a binding. In such a case the construction is in accordance with the broad aspect of my invention but a slight modification is made. This is shown in Figs. 4 to 7. Herein the cord is fed upon the edge of the fabric and the stitches 3, are formed near the edge of the fabric, passing from what may be considered the top or right side of the fabric through to the back. The stitches 6, and 12, are also formed through the fabric near its edge but the stitch 9, is prefer ably formed by simply looping the needle thread over the shuttle thread without pass ing the former through the fabric at this point, but to the side of the cord. The double loop will be cast around the cord at right angles thereto but the stitch 9, will not be made through the fabric, where the work is performed on a Zigzag machine.

From the above it will be apparent that three stitches are required to cast a double or returning loop around the cord at right angles thereto and it is these double loops that permit the decoration to be rapidly applied on a sewing machine in a simple manner and so that the finished product will have as pleasing and artistic appearance as when applied by hand work.

Having described my invention what I claim is An article of the class described, comprising a base fabric and an elongated decorative material secured upon the fabric, and means for securing the decorative material comprising a sewing thread, a stitch formed in the base fabric with said thread, on one side of the decorative material, a stitch formed-of said thread on the opposite side of said decorative material, the said thread forming a transverse loop around the decorative material between said first and second stitches, a stitch formed of said thread on the said first side of the decorative material, and said thread forming a transverse loop around said decorative material between said second and third stitches, said thread progressing between the stitches on said first side of the decorative material and in the same general direction as the latter.

Signed at the city, county and State of New York this 28th day of July 1911.

FREDRICK RINK. l/Vitnesses:

Row. L. WATERBURY, GEO. S. WI-IEELWRIGHT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

